The Congress party’s student wing, National Students Union of India, on Tuesday filed police complaints across the country against Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah.

The NSUI, in a statement, said that Shah was a “criminal implicated in murder, extortion, false encounters, intimidation of witness...” It alleged that Shah used his power as president of the ruling party to “subvert the rule of law”.

The NSUI said its charges in the police complaints were based on four cases, including using his position as home minister of Gujarat in 2005 to direct the police to orchestrate the encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, an extortionist who was abducted and shot dead by police.

Joint Secretary of All India Congress Committee and official in charge of NSUI activities Ruchi Gupta told PTI that members of the student wing filed complaints in 100 districts across 28 states.

“There is an attempt being made to reincarnate Amit Shah, a street thug, as a modern-day Chanakya but we will not allow this to happen,” Gupta said. The organisNSUI activists filed a complaint at the Parliament Street police station in Delhi.

National Secretary of NSUI Saimon Farooqui told ThePrint that filing complaints against Shah was “the silent version” of a protest. “If police and authorities do not take timely action, then we will resort to aggressive steps and will do gheraos and dharna pradarshans.”

The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the BJP’s youth wing, said the NSUI’s action was just a publicity stunt. “There is a bankruptcy of issues within the Congress and its student body and that is why they have resorted to this publicity stunt,” said spokesperson Shivam Chhabra. “They don’t even have any proof against the BJP president”, according to ThePrint.